More research

The radiation treatment ended last week. The last day the nurse said it was nice to see me but he hoped I would never have to come back ever again. There are still minor issues like irritated skin but it's not much to bother about.

I have used some of my free time to do more research. There are both some requests and some long-term projects regarding emigrants. They have databases at the regional archive that I don't have access to normally, so I have spent a few days there doing research. I have also made trips to other towns. One day I went by train to Tomelilla, which is a small place in the very south of Skåne. I go once in a while because there are two stores of interest there; one large discount store and a shop with plus size clothes. This time I made purchases in both. I was very happy to find a pair of boots at the discount store. I have also attended a nice choir event in the Lund Cathedral.

My private computer is not working and it's very frustrating. I handed it over to the technician at work and even he has a lot of trouble with it. The system files are taking up too much space and we can't figure out what's wrong. So incredibly annoying. For this reason I have had to spend a lot of time at work to use the computer there instead.

Book reading

The radiation treatments are going like planned. I have two more to do. It gives you pain and irritated skin but there are lotions to ease it. I'm lucky the clinic has a drop-in arrangement because the trains are unreliable. But sometimes there is a rather long waiting time, up to two hours. I am bringing crosswords with me to keep busy.

I have visited at work a few times for meetings and also to participate in the Friday morning fika. Some days I have done excursions to other towns, to have lunch and to explore the area. Over the past few months I have visited book stores, libraries and quite a few second hand stores in the western part of Skåne. The weather has been acceptable. Now the leaves are turning into fall colors and it's very pretty, It does rain a lot but we are used to it. I changed the (remains of the) summer flowers on the balcony to heather instead and it looks nice.

I have read a book of fiction. This is not common. Normally I read fact books. But this one was entitled Swede Hollow. It was an area in St Paul, Minnesota populated by Swedish immigrants. The author, Ola Larsmo, had done a lot of research for this book. He wrote a fictional account of some of those poor people who ended up in this slum in the 1890s. It was worth reading, despite the fact that it's not really a happy story. It has not been translated into English yet.